When I think back on a few science classes, I only remember those that required me to apply what I already knew through development of my own Science projects and scientific inquiry. I remember my teachers reading out of text books a lot, which is something I could do at home on my own. The science classroom atmosphere/experience was definitely teacher centered and at times very dry. And we all know Science is not a dry subject as it’s responsible for life and living. Anyone can read out loud from a book. If a good foundation is built in elementary school and the encouragement is there for students to inquire about what is unknown and how to find a possible answer, this will help students throughout their every day life. In a science class the teacher has the opportunity to engage students in different ways in order for the students to learn material and better understand it; often this is not the way the material is taught. There are many opportunities to assist students to learn to apply knowledge to their every day lives to help them retain the information. We all know that students learn differently so the opportunity to present the material in different ways in order to maximize learning for every student is great in science. Discovery learning can be expensive for the teacher but there are plenty of ways to keep costs down through teaching concepts in more creative and inventive ways.
It wasn’t until High School and college where I began to really understand the importance of what I had learned and how I would apply the knowledge. I think what this chapter is trying to address is the importance of having a constructive student, a student that can formulate their own thoughts and come up with their own ideas, and how we as teachers can encourage the thoughts of our students by stressing the importance of scientific inquiry. Often time’s educators will give the answer or disregard a question because of time constraints and I think this disregard for a question or wonderment, teaches students to not ask the questions in which help them develop thoughts. In this situation, it would be better to have the student ask the question and try and find an answer on their own and then somehow rewards the extra effort in locating the answer.
Through inquiry the students often incorporate other disciplines as well. When the students attempt to find answers to their questions they have to develop a plan of action, steps, in order to do so. This concept is known as problem solving. In order to develop a course of action to form and test a hypothesis, you need to be able to think constructively, logically, and gather data and information which will help solve the problem. Writing is developed by constructing a well written explanation or research conducted. When we create models of a concept and incorporate drawing or define items by color, it incorporates the arts. If Science is taught in a way that inquiry is a key component it would be easier to see that Science is a critical part of our curriculum.
Science is an important aspect of our lives; it’s responsible for why we are able to exist. Keeping students interested in science is important. And teaching science in ways that students make a connection or continue to learn or want to learn is imperative.
Angela Pine
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You make a strong case for inquiry teaching. Your insight that teachers will often neglect opportunities for true inquiry is spot on! For them, it may be easier, as you indicate, simply to give students "the answer" or to ignore the question altogether. But inquiry teaching respects the fact that the best learning occurs through authentic questions and that the process of answering these questions takes time. Many teachers are too afraid to give up time.
ReplyDeleteYour other insight that inquiry teaching involves integration with other subjects is also quite true! This integration with math and literacy reflects the real world in which we use all of these skills to answer questions and solve problems.